


Nice to Hear From You

by borntoblue



Category: BTOB
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 07:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5119451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borntoblue/pseuds/borntoblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Minhyuk scares the crap out of his neighbour and Eunkwang questions why his life has to be so embarrassing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nice to Hear From You

**Author's Note:**

> Like a good deal of the other things I write, this fic was originally prompted by Cara.

Footsteps from upstairs drag Minhyuk out of his sleep and into the reality of his cramped bedroom. He doesn’t know if there’s enough time for him to sleep some more so he rolls to the edge of his bed, eyes still closed as he reaches down to feel for his phone. The footsteps continue, muted but persistent, and as Minhyuk gets a grip on his phone, they start to fade, headed into some other part of the upstairs apartment.

Minhyuk rolls onto his back again as he unlocks his phone, and sighs as he reads “6:47 AM.” His upstairs neighbour wakes up at the strangest times and since there’s less than twenty minutes until Minhyuk’s alarm, he won’t be getting back to sleep before it rings.

Minhyuk sits up, feeling the ache from yesterday’s workout as he does. He stretches his arms over his head and kicks off his blankets before hoisting himself off the bed. He’s not overly tired but he still feels groggy enough that he decides to forgo clothes entirely on his way to the shower. No one can see him here but the birds outside the window and it’s not like his body is anything to be embarrassed about.

If he were still sharing an apartment with Donggeun, he would be awake already and Minhyuk would have gotten complaints about both his nakedness and his vanity about it, so Minhyuk enjoys his quiet walk to the bathroom, accompanied only by his neighbour’s footsteps, audible again once he leaves the bedroom.

Once Minhyuk gets to his bathroom and closes the door the footsteps fade again, replaced with a different muffled noise: one of his other neighbours singing in the shower.

Minhyuk smiles to himself as he hears it. It’s kind of cute that this person always sings in the morning even though they must know how thin the walls are. On days when Minhyuk wakes up early enough to hear them, it’s probably the best part of overhearing his neighbours. Another person might find it annoying, and sometimes Minhyuk does too, but on most days it’s a nice touch to Minhyuk’s morning.

Whoever his neighbour is, they’re an unusually good vocalist, and Minhyuk’s not going to protest hearing a nice voice no matter how early it is.

Minhyuk puts his phone down on the counter and starts to run the shower, straining his ear to see if he can figure out what his neighbour’s singing. He can’t recognize many of his neighbour’s songs. They seem to be a ballad fan and though Minhyuk can tell a good ballad from a bad one, he doesn’t listen to that many. Sometimes Minhyuk knows one from the radio or a drama, but mostly they blur together for him. When his neighbour throws a perkier song in, that’s when the song’s easy to identify. Once they were even singing Mr. Chu and Minhyuk was thoroughly entertained by hearing them correct themselves every time they ended up trying to sing in A Pink’s register.

Today, however, it’s a ballad, and Minhyuk steps into the shower thinking that he shouldn’t put too much thought into recognizing it.

The hot water feels fantastic, letting Minhyuk forget about his aching muscles for a moment, but as Minhyuk leans against the back of the small shower, hearing his neighbour’s singing get a little louder, he thinks he might actually know the song after all.

Ilhoon was into this song for a week or so. He kept humming it during work as best he could, though all the higher parts sounded like one continuous, unchanging hum. If Minhyuk could remember the lyrics he might be able to put a name to it, but Ilhoon’s humming is all he can match to the melody.

His neighbour’s pretty into their singing, however, so Minhyuk can make out the words from their end.

“ _The voice that will flow out of the radio,_ ” they sing, and those words absolutely sound right but Minhyuk still can’t recall the title, “ _The only thing I can do is to sing this song, even if things are hard-_ “

The neighbour cuts off, distracted by something else, but Minhyuk grins as he remembers both the next lyrics and the title.

“ _It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,_ ” he sings to himself. “It’s Okay” is the name of the song, and Minhyuk continues singing, pleased that he remembered. “ _Everything will be okay, I believe in you._ ”

Minhyuk raises his volume on the last part, putting in a bit too much effort, and through the wall, he hears a yelp.

Then he hears something that sounds like slipping and a rather loud crash.

Minhyuk immediately turns off his shower, listening for further noises from his neighbour, but all he hears is the continued spray of water.

“Are you okay?” Minhyuk calls out. 

There’s no real response, but when Minhyuk presses his ear to the wall, he thinks he hears a faint groan.

“I’m coming over to help!” Minhyuk declares, grabbing a towel and the exercise clothes he left in here last night. They smell, but they’ll do. “Can you get to your door?”

There’s no real answer to that and Minhyuk doesn’t want to wait much longer if his neighbour really did hit themselves.

Minhyuk dashes out of the bathroom, eyes on his front door, and thinks that “It’s Okay” was perhaps not the most fitting soundtrack for the morning.

 

~ o ~ o ~

 

Eunkwang thought his neighbour showered in the evening.

He’s still fairly sure they shower in the evening. He’s heard them through the wall enough times that he’s positive they do it often.

He just hadn’t noticed that they were the kind of person to shower in the morning as well. Eunkwang’s not the most observant person on Earth, especially when he’s singing, and the extra noise completely escaped his notice.

Eunkwang wishes he had noticed earlier. The echoing ache in his head could have been prevented if he had, and so could the wave of embarrassment crawling over him as he stands up and shuts off his shower.

Eunkwang has been sitting on the floor for the past few minutes, groaning and wondering why life is so cruel to him. He’s starting to recover now, so he carefully makes his way out of the shower and grabs a towel.

He can hear the intercom ringing now. He dimly recalls his neighbour’s last words about coming over and Eunkwang figures the noise is their doing. He ties his towel around his waist, thinking that he shouldn’t keep them waiting long since they’re so worried, and goes to open the door.

Obviously Eunkwang hadn’t thought this through, because this leaves him sopping wet and wearing nothing but a towel in front of his concerned, cute, and definitely clothed neighbour.

Eunkwang feels like he’s moved beyond being a human and become some kind of entity made entirely out of embarrassment. Even his aching head seems like a distant memory in the face of how much he can feel himself freezing up, completely mortified with the confirmation that he is practically naked in front of an attractive stranger who knows the complete events of the morning.

Eunkwang’s neighbour does not seem to be embarrassed by any nakedness happening. He seems more concerned than anything.

“Are you alright?” he asks. “I heard you slip and crash. You didn’t hit anything too hard, did you?”

“I…” Eunkwang needs a moment to articulate the rest of that sentence. “I hit my head, but it’s fine.”

His neighbour’s eyes widen, “You did? Shit, can I see? If you’re bleeding, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“It’s fine,” Eunkwang says, but he turns around anyways to try and pacify his neighbour, who hurriedly shifts through his hair. “I didn’t see any blood.”

Eunkwang actually didn’t look back at the shower, so he wouldn’t know if there was blood. Now he’s kind of worried too.

Thankfully, he can hear his neighbour sigh with relief. Eunkwang turns to face him again.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any damage, no bruises or anything, but if you think something’s wrong you might want to get it checked out,” his neighbour looks sheepish now. “It sounded like a pretty hard crash. Sorry about that.”

“Do you do this for a living?” Eunkwang finds himself saying, still a bit delirious, and his neighbour blinks at him.

“What do you mean? I don’t scare people for a living.”

Eunkwang thinks that’s a joke, but he can’t quite process it enough to laugh, “I mean medical stuff.”

“No, I have an office job.”

“I see.”

The two of them drift into an awkward silence.

Eunkwang tries smiling, but it’s hard when all he wants to do is wince. His head’s still throbbing.

“I really didn’t mean to startle you,” his neighbour says, ducking his head apologetically. 

“It’s okay, I’m easy to surprise,” Eunkwang means that, Hyunsik manages to startle him nearly every time he walks by the studio, but his neighbour presses on.

“I didn’t even mean for you to hear,” he looks embarrassed now. “I was just trying to remember the words.”

“It’s seriously fine,” Eunkwang insists, able to smile at him more properly this time. “This won’t hurt for much longer so I won’t hold it against you.”

His neighbour smiles back sheepishly, and the expression makes him even cuter.

“Even if you aren’t that hurt, I am really sorry. I got caught up in listening and didn’t realize what I was doing. You’re really good. Even through the wall I can tell.”

The compliment does a lot to soothe Eunkwang’s embarrassment, lack of clothes aside.

“Thank you, I practice a lot,” he leans back on his doorframe, tightening his towel for good measure. “Outside of the shower I mean.”

“That’s not too surprising,” his neighbour answers, still smiling. “I hear your vocal warm-ups sometimes.”

Knowing his neighbour’s listened to him more than once brings the embarrassment back nearly in full force. Eunkwang hopes he’s never heard him try to sing a girl group song.

At Eunkwang’s silence, his neighbour starts frowning again, “Are you sure you’re alright? Even if it’s not serious I could grab you an icepack from my freezer or something.”

“That actually sounds nice,” Eunkwang concedes, about to amend that it’s not necessary, but before he can blink, his neighbour’s turned around, jogging off to his own apartment.

“You don’t have to though!” he calls out uselessly.

Seconds later, his neighbour walks out the door with a towel-wrapped object. 

“You hit the back of your head, right?” 

Eunkwang nods, about to explain how it ended up like that, but before he can speak his neighbour’s reaching behind his head, pressing the ice pack to his head himself. Eunkwang doesn’t feel better immediately, but just knowing it’s there is a relief. He cradles it to his head immediately.

“Thank you so much,” he says, facing his neighbour with a real smile this time. “You really didn’t have to.”

His neighbour shrugs, “It’s fine, it was my fault anyways. Keep the pack and towel as long as you have to.”

“I probably won’t need it for long…” Eunkwang’s hit himself many times before, he knows this pain won’t last.

His neighbour is backing away now, clearly getting ready for one last apology, when Eunkwang realizes a hitch in the ice pack plan.

“Hey, how should I return it, and what’s your name? It’ll be awkward if I borrow your things without knowing.”

“Uh,” his neighbour pauses for a moment, “just leave it by my door I guess. Also, my name is Minhyuk.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Eunkwang,” he answers by reflex, and Minhyuk laughs.

“Are you sure it’s nice? You did hit your head because of me.”

“It’s fine,” Eunkwang insists for what feels like the hundredth time, “and it’s nice because I’ve finally have a face for the shifting I hear every day. Now I won’t feel like I’m living next to a mysterious ghost person.”

Minhyuk laughs again even though that wasn’t terribly funny, and Eunkwang thinks meeting him could be nice for other reasons too.

 

~ o ~ o ~

 

Although Minhyuk never thought of his neighbour as a “mysterious ghost person,” Minhyuk finds that he feels differently about the noises next door now that he knows who’s making them.

He notices the sound of the door unlocking and closing late in the evening, hours after Minhyuk himself has gotten home, and takes note of it instead of turning his movie up louder. He listens for a moment as Eunkwang’s footsteps sound through the walls, then end with the sound of furniture creaking and a large sigh.

Minhyuk still feels a bit guilty about the morning’s events, he knows Eunkwang slipping in the shower could have turned out very badly and it would have been his fault, so when he hears the sigh, he feels compelled to check on Eunkwang again.

“Long day?” he calls out.

Eunkwang yelps, just as loud as last time. Minhyuk’s guilt gets slightly worse.

“You alright?” he says, even louder.

“I’m fine,” Eunkwang half-says half-groans back. “I already told you it’s easy to scare me.”

Minhyuk’s beginning to think those aren’t just empty words to stop him from worrying. He gets up from his spot on the couch, moving to his chair that’s closer to the wall.

“Still, did you have a long day?”

“I always have a long day,” Eunkwang replies. Minhyuk can hear his couch creak more, he must be getting comfortable. “Teaching is hard even when the kids are really nice.”

“You’re a teacher?” Even from their brief meeting, Minhyuk can imagine Eunkwang as a teacher. He was so friendly despite the circumstances that Minhyuk could see him doing well with children.

“A vocal coach,” Eunkwang corrects, and Minhyuk thinks that’s even more fitting. “I have a class I run all the time, an evening choir for teenagers, once a week, then I do some work for an entertainment company the rest of the time.”

“That’s actually pretty impressive,” Minhyuk tells him, and he can hear Eunkwang make some kind of embarrassed noise.

“I enjoy it,” there’s enough pride in his voice that Minhyuk can imagine his smile. “I’m not a top class vocal instructor but I make enough to get by.”

“That’s really nice,” Minhyuk says, and means it. He wishes he could make a living off music. “I’m an assistant, it’s pretty boring.”

“I’m sure there are some things to like,” Eunkwang says. Minhyuk thinks he doesn’t have to be that nice about it. “It’s stabler than mine.”

Minhyuk feels they’re getting off-track, and talking about his job is always boring anyways. “Back to the beginning, was it a long day?” he asks again. “That was a pretty big sigh there.”

“Oh, not especially,” Eunkwang laughs. “I only taught the choir today and it wasn’t especially hard, I’m just tired.”

“You can say that again,” Minhyuk sighs. Given Eunkwang’s job, Minhyuk’s day is guaranteed to have been more boring, too. “I was just checking in. I hope I didn’t totally ruin your day.”

“Not in the least,” Eunkwang chimes back. 

The two are silent for a moment. Minhyuk’s ears pick up on his TV again and he finally remembers to pause his movie.

“I feel like I’m going to pay more attention to your side from now on,” Eunkwang says, sighing again. “How am I ever going to focus?”

“If this keeps up I’ll have the same problem, so you’ll be in good company at least,” Minhyuk lounges back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. “Speaking of company, you should warn me if you have anyone come over. That will definitely be too loud to ignore.”

Eunkwang’s silent for a moment, perhaps distracted by something else, but he says “okay” in the end.

 

~ o ~ o ~

 

Eunkwang was right about paying more attention to Minhyuk’s side of the wall.

Minhyuk’s a fairly quiet neighbour overall. As he ends up explaining to Eunkwang, he spends most of the day at work, followed by the gym (which explains his showers in the evening), and then his days off are mostly spent out of the house. When he’s at home, his noisiest activities are cooking, watching TV, extra exercise, and singing when he has his headphones in. 

Eunkwang suspects that he himself is a slightly louder neighbour. He screams at insects more often than he’d like to admit, sings frequently, yells at his League games sometimes, and he knows he has a habit of commenting when he’s watching TV even when there’s no one to comment to.

Though with Minhyuk seemingly paying attention to Eunkwang as well, sometimes the commentary gets a reply.

Minhyuk is more open to talking through the walls than Eunkwang would expect him to be.

Eunkwang learns that Minhyuk’s his age, he works at a law firm though he hasn’t actually studied law so he’s just an assistant, and that Minhyuk writes songs in his spare time, but no, Eunkwang doesn’t get to hear them until Minhyuk likes them enough to perform them in public. He insists they wouldn’t sound good through the wall anyways.

Eunkwang tells Minhyuk more about himself, too, though of course he can’t remember exactly what he says. He eventually tells Minhyuk about his students in detail, even some of the entertainment company idols he only tells friends about, though Minhyuk refused to believe he coaches Yook Sungjae until Eunkwang put him on speaker phone.

(That was a satisfying day for Eunkwang, hearing how impressed Minhyuk was, even if he had to buy Sungjae lunch in exchange for the favour the next day.)

It gets to the point where Eunkwang thinks of Minhyuk as his friend even though he hasn’t seen Minhyuk’s face for a while. 

Minhyuk was very cute, Eunkwang remembers that clearly. His face was triangular, he was buff and he had squirrel-y teeth. It’s been long enough since Eunkwang’s seen him that he doesn’t really have a full mental picture of him anymore.

Eunkwang would like to see him again. 

He keeps thinking about Minhyuk when he’s out and about. He puts a lot of thought into how to tell Minhyuk about his day, he’s reminded of Minhyuk when he sees food he’s mentioned eating, and when he sees Hyunsik he wonders if he can get Minhyuk to meet him and talk about composing sometime.

Though he still talks to Minhyuk only through the walls of their apartments, figuring that if Minhyuk hasn’t asked yet, it’s unlikely Minhyuk’s as interested in seeing him.

“You know what I said about warning if we have company coming?” Minhyuk asks, interrupting the episode of Running Man playing in Eunkwang’s room.

Eunkwang pauses the TV to answer, “Yes, I remember that.”

“I’ve got someone coming over today so expect more noise than usual, okay?

Eunkwang notes that Minhyuk didn’t say his relationship to this person, nor specify what kind of noises they will potentially be making.

“Got it,” Eunkwang answers back, un-pausing Running Man as he hears Minhyuk get off his couch.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Minhyuk announces, even though there’s no need.

Eunkwang can hear Minhyuk’s door open, close and then lock. He can hear Minhyuk walk by too, headed downstairs to let his guest in the building.

Eunkwang can’t quite focus on Running Man as he wonders what kind of guest Minhyuk’s brought. Most people would say if family was visiting, so they’re probably not related to him. He wonders if Minhyuk omitted his relationship to them on purpose. Maybe it’s really complicated. Maybe the comment about noise was supposed to be something discrete about how he’s inviting someone over to have sex but he doesn’t want to say it to Eunkwang outright. 

Maybe Minhyuk even has a significant other he hasn’t mentioned before.

All these possibilities seem unlikely, but the question distracts Eunkwang anyway. When he tunes back into Running Man, every team’s accusing the others of cheating and he doesn’t know why. He tries to follow from that point onwards, but after a few moments he finds himself wondering how much noise Minhyuk and guest will actually make. 

Then he hears a vague pair of voices from down the hallway.

Eunkwang doesn’t pause his show to listen. That would be weird, he’s not going to be weird about this, but he does devote some of his attention to overhearing as the pair walk by his door.

“Why were you expecting me to have a nice apartment?” Minhyuk asks. “I make the same amount of money as you.”

“I dunno, you’re older, you should have a better place than me,” an unfamiliar voice answers him. “This building is not making the cut so far.”

Minhyuk’s door swings open, and Eunkwang hears some bumping into walls as they navigate the small entryway the apartments have.

“The heating and air conditioning actually work really well, so I’m not leaving any time soon,” Minhyuk says as he closes the door again. “The walls are super thin though, you can hear everything.”

“Hey, Eunkwang!” Minhyuk calls out, eager to prove his point. Eunkwang can hear a playfulness to his voice that makes him imagine a smile.

“Hello! Sounds like you have company now,” he calls back, happy that he’s played along when he hears Minhyuk laugh.

“Am I…” Minhyuk’s guest trails off. “Am I hearing his TV, too?”

“I’m watching Running Man,” Eunkwang supplies, though he’s hardly watching anymore. They’ve switched to another game since he last tuned in.

“How do you even sleep?” Minhyuk’s guest sounds incredulous, and Minhyuk laughs again.

“It’s a bit better in the bedrooms, you can only hear the neighbours from above in there.” More shifting around. “Make yourself at home, anyways.”

Eunkwang hears the couch shifting, and imagines Minhyuk’s guest doing just that. Minhyuk seems to settle down beside him.

Eunkwang pauses Running Man. There’s no use letting it play when he’s not paying attention, and he should get started on dinner. 

It just so happens that because he turns off the TV, he can more clearly overhear Minhyuk and his guest talking.

“Do you know all your neighbours?” the guest is asking, still stuck on the thin walls.

“Just Eunkwang,” Minhyuk answers easily, and in some strange way Eunkwang’s pleased with that. “The person on the other side is basically never home.”

Eunkwang wants to chime in with “lucky,” because his other neighbour watches horror movies in broad daylight sometimes and it’s kind of unsettling to hear the soundtracks, but then Eunkwang remembers he isn’t actually supposed to be listening to this conversation. 

He should be going to the kitchen and deciding what he’s going to make, but he feels too lazy to move so he continues to lie on the couch. Minhyuk and his guest are still completely audible.

“That’s not too bad then I guess,” the guest answers.

“Don’t judge, I know your apartment isn’t much better,” Minhyuk seems to get off the couch again. “Want me to toss something frozen in the microwave for us?”

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea for Eunkwang’s own dinner now that it’s occurred to him, but Minhyuk’s guest makes some kind of displeased noise.

“Since I’m a guest shouldn’t I get the delivery food treatment at the very least?”

“If you want that you’re paying for half of it.”

“Aren’t company seniors supposed to treat their juniors?”

Minhyuk sighs but it sounds exaggerated. It kind of bugs Eunkwang that he can’t tell, but without visual cues there’s not much he can do.

“This company senior doesn’t make that much more money than you do, and would appreciate if you pay for your own food.”

It’s the guest that laughs this time, “Fair enough.”

This conversation isn’t even that interesting. Eunkwang really should stop paying attention to it. It sounds like Minhyuk’s guest is just his coworker. 

Eunkwang had no reason to be worried it would be someone Minhyuk was involved with.

Eunkwang frowns. He certainly did have no reason to be worried about that. Whoever Minhyuk dates or has a somewhat different relationship with is none of his business. He’s just Minhyuk’s neighbour who happens to think Minhyuk’s cute, enjoys talking to Minhyuk, and wants to know Minhyuk much better than he does already.

On second thought, maybe those feelings combine to make a reason.

Eunkwang flips over and groans loudly into the couch cushions.

“You okay?” Minhyuk calls over. Obviously Eunkwang’s groaning wasn’t muffled enough.

He pulls his head up again to answer.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“That sounded really weird,” Minhyuk’s guest says. “What even happened?”

“I just realized…” 

Eunkwang can’t come up with a convincing lie, but maybe he can make do with a vague truth. 

“There’s something I should do.”

Minhyuk laughs, “Well good luck with it.”

“Thanks,” Eunkwang answers back.

He sits up, unmoving for a moment. He doesn’t even listen to Minhyuk and his guest’s continued conversation.

Then Eunkwang sighs, careful to make it quiet this time.

Maybe Minhyuk technically wishing him luck in asking him out will make it go a bit better.

 

~ o ~ o ~

 

Minhyuk likes talking to Eunkwang.

It’s hardly been a month since they met properly, but Minhyuk doesn’t feel uncomfortable with Eunkwang at all. He’s almost supernaturally easy to get along with, he’s not boring either, and even if his video game habit is a bit annoying, Minhyuk doesn’t have any other complaints about his noise level. 

In fact, Minhyuk thinks it’s soothing to hear Eunkwang move around. It feels like Minhyuk’s at home with someone else even though he’s technically alone, and Minhyuk’s always liked being around people. Even when he doesn’t necessarily feel like chatting, it’s nice to know someone’s there.

Recently though, Eunkwang’s been making his presence more obvious.

Eunkwang’s been speaking louder and more frequently to himself. He says “I’m back” when he gets home to his apartment as if Minhyuk is waiting for him. He seems to have lost all hesitation when it comes to asking Minhyuk what he’s doing, and their conversations are becoming longer by the day.

It occurs to Minhyuk eventually that he’s almost acquired a roommate instead of having met a neighbour.

Minhyuk likes that idea. He kind of misses living with someone else, and Eunkwang complains much less than Donggeun did. Minhyuk isn’t sure he’s ever heard Eunkwang complain.

Overall, he’s a very nice neighbour, and Minhyuk finds himself wanting to spend time with Eunkwang face-to-face.

Not that Minhyuk can remember what that face looks like. He was so concerned the morning they met that the details of Eunkwang’s appearance are a blur, and they never arrive home at the same time so Minhyuk hasn’t seen him since.

It’s a weird situation, but Minhyuk knows it’s a problem that’s easy to fix. It’s late enough that Eunkwang’s home and Minhyuk can vaguely hear some music from his handheld video game. 

It’s a fairly good time to just ask him about it.

“Hey Eunkwang,” he yells, leaning against the wall so it’s easier for Eunkwang to hear him. “You have a moment?”

“Yeah, I’m not doing anything,” Eunkwang yells back. Minhyuk hears some footsteps, then a light hit to the wall, and he knows Eunkwang’s leaning near him too. His voice sounds closer the next time he speaks. “What’s the matter?”

“Remind me of what you look like again.” 

There’s a pause. Eunkwang must be confused. Minhyuk imagines him leaning his ear against the wall and frowning, trying to figure out how to respond.

He smiles at the image. This thin walls thing is kind of fun when someone you like is living next door.

“I think we’re the same height,” Eunkwang offers.

Minhyuk laughs, “That’s not much to go on.”

“It’s the first thing I thought of,” Eunkwang pauses again after that. “I have light brown hair. It’s not natural but one of the stylists at the company said it would look good.”

“You don’t have to tell me the story behind everything.”

“Good, because I was about to get to my face and there’s no story there,” Eunkwang laughs a bit to himself, and Minhyuk smiles along. “I have thin eyes and really prominent cheekbones, and that’s me!”

In his imagination, Minhyuk’s been putting Eunkwang’s features together like a puzzle, so with a description like that his mental Eunkwang puzzle is lacking a nose and a mouth. It looks more like a stylized painting than an actual person.

“That really doesn’t get me a lot further than I was before.”

“You do a better job of describing yourself then,” Eunkwang tells him indignantly.

Minhyuk decides he’s up to that challenge.

“For starters, I’m really hot.”

He doesn’t get much further than that because Eunkwang laughs too loudly.

“I can’t say you’re not accurate.”

Even though Eunkwang can’t see him, Minhyuk can’t help raising his eyebrows.

“You think I’m hot?”

“Well…” Eunkwang pauses again. “I remember that much. It made answering the door in nothing but a towel even more embarrassing.”

Minhyuk’s turn to laugh, “I had almost forgotten about that.”

“I wish I hadn’t reminded you then,” Eunkwang sounds petulant enough that Minhyuk can imagine his mental Eunkwang cartoon with a mouth that’s pouting. “I wish I could forget.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Minhyuk assures him.

“You weren’t the one who was nearly naked and answering the door to a hot neighbour who just scared the crap out of you.”

“Are you really that stuck on me being hot?”

That results in the longest pause yet.

“You’re the one who brought it up,” says Eunkwang, which is among the lamest excuses Minhyuk has ever heard.

Eunkwang’s interest is flattering though.

An idea’s occurring to Minhyuk now, one that makes him stand up straight and put on his best smile. Eunkwang can’t see the smile, but it gives Minhyuk that last bit of confidence he needs to make a move.

“Would you be interested in seeing my face again?” Minhyuk asks.

“Like, right now?” that answer was immediate, which Minhyuk takes as promising.

“Yeah, sure, that wor-”

Before Minhyuk finishes that sentence, he can hear Eunkwang’s loud footsteps rush in the direction of his apartment door.

Minhyuk laughs but follows suit and opens his door in a matter of seconds.

Eunkwang looks better than Minhyuk’s simplistic imagination provided. He is indeed Minhyuk’s height and his cheekbones are as obvious as advertised, but his hair’s a bit messier than imagined, that stylist must not get to it often, and his mouth is huge. It makes his eager smile extra obvious.

He looks every bit the friendly person that he is, approachable and a weird sort of cute. 

Minhyuk finds he likes it.

“Don’t know how I didn’t remember your face the first time,” Minhyuk tells him. “You’re honestly kind of cute.”

Eunkwang waves a hand dismissively, “You’re flattering me.”

“And you’re actually wearing things other than a towel this time.”

That prompts Eunkwang to close his eyes and groan. Minhyuk just laughs.

“I can’t even say anything. You’re just as clothed as last time.”

“You’d remember if I was any less clothed?”

Eunkwang laughs, grinning almost sheepishly afterward. “Something like that.”

There isn’t too much else for Minhyuk to say. He’s still idly looking Eunkwang over, taking note of his plain sweater and his jeans when Eunkwang speaks up again.

“Since we seem to…” He struggles for a word, then shakes his head to clear it. “Since we seem to like each other, what would you say to lunch sometime?”

“I would say yes.”

Minhyuk’s immediate answer seems to throw Eunkwang off.

“You mean it?” 

Eunkwang’s smile is widening again, and he’s shifting his balance forward for some reason.

He really is cute. Minhyuk smiles in return.

“Yeah, when are you free?”

Eunkwang rattles off his entire schedule for the week in what sounds like one breath, Minhyuk laughs and asks him to repeat it more slowly, and the two exchange numbers with a promise to meet tomorrow.

“It’ll be hard to wait even that long,” Eunkwang tells him, laughing a bit breathlessly as they hover in their respective doorways. “It would be kind of pointless but I kind of want to invite you to sleep on my couch.”

Minhyuk laughs, “Yeah, let’s just sleep separately tonight. See you tomorrow.”

Eunkwang gives him his widest smile yet.

“I’ll see you then!”

He goes into his own apartment, even behind the door Minhyuk can hear a bit of skip to his step, and Minhyuk steps back into his, leaning against the door for a moment as he does.

It’s hard not to laugh and comment on Eunkwang’s loud pleased humming that follows, but Minhyuk does want to save some conversation for tomorrow.

If earlier was any indication, talking will be even better when they can see each other’s faces anyways.


End file.
